Hemingway’s Paris of the ‘roaring twenties’ as it is presented in “The Sun Also Rises” follows a group of expatriates indulging in excess and pursuit of experience: loose and heavy spending, partying and a lot of alcohol. A ‘lost generation’, reeling from the shattering of pre-war ideals and values, most of them are veterans or in some way directly connected to the war. It paints a lifestyle of an expatriate that is flashy, glamorous, yet somehow empty.
The novel’s protagonist, Jake Barnes, is a man’s man, yet ‘un-manned’ by the war and terribly in love with fellow expatriate Lady Ashley. Ben Lerner’s 21st century addition to the American expatriate genre seems initially far removed from “The Sun” and not just as a result of the 90 odd years separating Madrid of 2004 from 1920s Paris. Adam Gordon, fraudulent protagonist of “Leaving the Atocha Station”, is disillusioned with art, poetry and authenticity in general. His scholarship to Madrid has included little actual research: his time is marked by consuming alcohol, mounds of hash and attending occasional meaningless party and generally failing to accumulate experience. Yet these two expatriate experiences are in discourse with one another through several key concerns of the genre: the drive for experience, the dangers of Europe, the competence of the American expatriate and the unobtainable.
These various themes place these two texts in a conversation over what it means to be an American expatriate, and how that experience has changed or updated from Hemingway’s Spain and Paris to Lerner’s Madrid – particularly that expatriate identity even still exists.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Hemingway's Paris of the ‘roaring twenties' as it is presented in The Sun Also Rises
- The expatriates of Hemingway's Paris of the 1920s embody what Gertrude Stein dubbed the 'lost generation'
- However, the comparable struggle for 21st century expatriate Adam Gordon in Atocha Station is that he has no struggle
- Despite the expatriate's inherent status as apart, these two novels offer very different views of American competence and power through the American expatriate protagonist.
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This text examines how the expatriate experience has evolved from the 1920s to the 21st century, using Ernest Hemingway's *The Sun Also Rises* and Ben Lerner's *Leaving the Atocha Station* as case studies. It explores the common themes and concerns of the American expatriate genre, highlighting the changing nature of expatriate identity in different historical contexts.
- The drive for experience and the search for authenticity
- The dangers and temptations of Europe
- The competence and power of the American expatriate
- The unattainable nature of true expatriate experience
- The role of trauma and its impact on the expatriate experience
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
This text begins by analyzing the expatriate experience in Hemingway's *The Sun Also Rises*, focusing on the characters' struggles with war trauma and their attempts to find meaning in mundane activities. The text then delves into the 21st century expatriate experience in Lerner's *Leaving the Atocha Station*, highlighting the protagonist's search for a "real" experience and his ultimate rejection of the expatriate lifestyle. Finally, the text compares and contrasts the portrayals of American competence and power in both novels, exploring the changing perspectives on the American expatriate in different historical periods.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This text examines the expatriate experience, focusing on key themes such as war trauma, authenticity, experience, the dangers of Europe, American competence, and the limitations of the expatriate lifestyle. It analyzes two notable works in the American expatriate genre: *The Sun Also Rises* and *Leaving the Atocha Station*, highlighting the evolving nature of expatriate identity in different historical contexts.
- Quote paper
- Alex Gibbs (Author), 2016, Examining an updated expatriate experience from Earnest Hemmingway's "The Sun Also Rises" to Ben Lerner's" Leaving the Atocha Station", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/339622
